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Is Breshad Perriman un-benchable this week?

Plus, who of Aaron Jones, Derrick Henry, and Miles Sanders belongs on your bench?

USA Today/Pete Rogers Illustrations

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Onto the mailbag:

Breshad Perriman is your league winner. There is not a singular reason in this whole green marble we live on that he should be on your bench this week. Start him with utmost confidence. And I’d say all that even if he wasn’t going up against the Texans’ suspect pass defense.

As for your number two, I’m gonna keep riding with DeVante Parker. Trust that Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to look his way and only his way and force feed him the football. I like DeAndre Washington but his matchup isn’t so amazing that you have to take advantage of it in my opinion.

Easy: Perriman, Terry McLaurin, and A.J. Brown. Don’t over think it.

Marlon Mack is your RB2. He’s one of my top 5 plays this week so I gotta hype him up wherever I can. He’s the lead dog in that backfield and the Panthers have been the worst in the league this season at stopping opposing backs. Lock him in and don’t second guess it.

As for your flex, I want to just keep rolling with Perriman everywhere, but I’m a very superstitious man and I’m almost certain that if I put out too much praise into the world, Jameis Winston is going to completely ghost Perriman for some reason and suddenly realize that O.J Howard is a viable target. There’s certainly risk to Michael Gallup but his upside could be pretty big against the Eagles’ terrible secondary in a must win game for both teams. However, I’m risking the bad juju and I’m for the third time picking Perriman. I think he’s just un-benchable this week.

Wow, got good running backs much? That’s quite a pickle my friend for all four of those guys offer plenty of upside but come with some risks. I’ma say Aaron Jones is a lock. The Packers offense is at it is best when Jones is heavily involved and in a must win game, you can bet he’ll be a focal point. Plus it helps that the Vikings have been giving up the fifth most points to backs the last four weeks. That’s a matchup Jones can take advantage of.

Honestly, I could make convincing arguments for any of the other three guys on your list but I’m going to make one for Miles Sanders who’s emerged as the lone bright spot of the Eagles offense and a focal point of their passing game, seeing at least five targets in each of the last four games while also averaging 15.8 carries during that time. The Cowboys have given up the seventh most receptions to running backs this year which bodes well for Sanders’ passing game ability.

I like your intuition. I don’t think you can go wrong with either but we know the Vikings offense is very favorable for running backs and the Packers defense has certainly been vulnerable, giving up the ninth most points to opposing backs this year.

Regardless of Drew Brees maybe or maybe not playing, the Titans defense isn’t a cake wake for opposing quarterbacks. They’ve given up the 14th fewest points in the last four weeks and on the season (so they’ve been really consistent). Fitzmagic on the other hand faces a much more vulnerable Bengals team that might be consciously throwing in the towel to make sure they get their QB of the future. If you’re really worried about Brees’ availability, I’d go with Fitzpatrick, otherwise stick with riding the Saints hot offense.

Damn good question. I want to think both will have good games for you and that there’s no wrong answer but that’s me just being unhelpful. Were I you, I’d start Ryan Fitzpatrick for two reasons: 1) the Kirk Cousins narrative tells us he doesn’t get up for big games and while I do see him not losing this game for the Vikings, I don’t necessarily see them winning it because of him, meanwhile Fitzpatrick is the only thing that’s good in this Dolphins offense. 2) When you have a chance to finish your fantasy season with a win thanks to the beard of Fitzmagic, you don’t let that opportunity pass you by.

I’m sticking with Todd Gurley. I don’t think Patrick Laird is going to break off for such a huge game this week that he’s a league winner (now that’s exactly what he’s going to do) and while I like Greg Ward as a low key sleeper, he’s still young and facing a tough Cowboys secondary. It’s been a bumpy season for Gurley but he’s now scored at least once in each of his last three games and for whatever reason he proven to show out vs the 49ers. In his career, across five games against San Francisco, Gurley is averaging over 84 total yards and over a touchdown per game.

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